It's The New Balance 650s Time to Shine
First brought back from New Balance's vast archives in 2020, we're all more than familiar with the New Balance 550 by now. Hitting huge resell numbers and selling out almost instantly (especially when made together with Aimé Leon Dore) we've seen countless iterations of the shoe since it was first re-introduced to the market. But what about the New Balance 650?
Sure, the 550 might be the only real competition for Nike's Air Force 1 and there is debate as whether the model is having an identity crisis, but all that noise has left the 650, the model's hi-top younger sibling, slightly in the background. Thankfully that's starting to change.
The end of last year saw StockX report that searches for the New Balance 650 had increased by 807% on the resale site, a remake of the classic film White Men Can't Jump (1992) is scheduled to air on Hulu in two month's time with Jack Harlow (who is playing a lead role) sporting a pair of 650s, and there's a Junya Watanabe collab in the pipeline.
Plus, on top of all of that, the label has just blessed shop floors with two new colorways.
Following on from its white and red release, the two newest iterations arrive in white with either yellow or purple detailing — making them mirror the colors of the L.A. Lakers when presented together.
An ode to retro basketball footwear styles, contrasting hits of yellow or purple are used to draw attention to features such as the shoe's puffy ankle collar that give it extra height and the basketball illustration on the tongue.
While we look bound to see a lot more of the New Balance 650 in the near future, especially once that White Men can't Jump sequel releases, we're getting ourselves acquainted with the model through the pairs below.
